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Why do I have to file a tax return as I'm PAYE ?

1K views 26 replies 15 participants last post by  EddieGTA 
#1 ·
I'm PAYE and didn't cancel the child benefit payments as frankly I didn't understand what action to take. Last year I had to to do a tax return for this reason despite having no other interesting financial activities and the tax people know how much I earned. I got billed and then a new tax code to cover the child benefit issue but again I have to do a tax return and now I've got the login code to get the password which the website won't recognise. I ask for a new password and the website tells me it's already processing one. It's finished giving me one it then doesn't recognise. I'll have to phone up and hold on the line for three quarters of an hour just to get onto a website to tell the government a couple of numbers it should be able to tell me. Argh!
 
#2 ·
My son registered self employed then got a paye job and let inland revenue know and they have cancelled his self employment status...all done over the phone :thumbup:

Just ring them but find a quiet time like late morning (around 11am)

Im self employed and its got so much easier over the years:thumbup:
 
#3 ·
You need to contact HMRC by phone. I have done this in the past, away from peak hours. Always been helpful. if you are PAYE, I cannot fathom why you would be completing a self assessment form. Why anyone getting child benefit would need to complete one also is beyond me. Phone them later in the morning.
 
#6 ·
I had the same issues when I retired, the last salary paid to me was not taxed correctly because some of it was my pension, not my fault.

So they changed my tax code for the next year to claw the money back. Fine, works for me.

I then had to fill out tax forms for the next couple of years.

You must be on the same "Bad boy list" as Amazon and Starbucks.
 
G
#11 ·
I went from being a contractor to PAYE (same employer) and they couldn't cope with working it out. At the same time as going full time I got private health care benefits provided, and that made it even worse. They said they would adjust the tax code and nothing need to be done, fine. One week later another letter turns up saying they can't do that I need to pay up front... via cheque (within, I think 14 days). Before I had chance to pay that another turned up supposedly corrected, but with nothing different. Lucky for me it was only a couple of hundred quid and I could afford it, but I found this ridiculous especially when it probably cost more in admin to send out 3 sets of letters trying to get the money in different ways.

As for Amazon and Starbucks, surely if you're on that list you'd get taken out for a swanky meal and told not to worry. :censored:
 
#7 ·
They wrote to me and told me I need to do a self-assessment but I can't recall if they said it was for tax year 2014-2015 (in which case I need to get my arse into gear) or if it was for tax year 2015-2016.
 
#9 ·
It will surely be for 2014/15 I would have thought. It needs submitted by 31st Jan unless they have written to you recently in which case it has to be returned within a certain time after the letter (but can't remember how long it tends to be) which may be after 31st Jan. Have to say I have not had the same positive response from HMRC over the phone as others here have had but maybe they are improving
 
#13 ·
It depends upon what your query is.

When I worked there I dealt with the more complicated technical queries/letters - Capital Gains Tax, residency etc. - and would immediately contact the sender giving my name and direct line number. I could sort most queries in a few days without having to consult others (i.e. I could make decisions). Occasionally I would have to consult a specialist as otherwise a precedent might have been set - but I always kept the person informed.

What happened, of course, is that some people whose queries I answered would give my number to their friends and they, understandably as the delays on the helpline were horrendous, would call me with straightforward queries. Although I was not supposed to I would help if the solution was quick and virtually instantaneous - otherwise I would refer them to the general helpline as I was under time limits to answer the tech stuff.

I left 6 months ago and have been told that telephone response times have improved. All I would say is that if you can eventually get through then usually the person answering is helpful and efficient.

Things do go wrong off course - when I was partially retired, for three months I was on code OT (no allowances) on both my earnings and pension despite my phoning (employees have a direct line) before they got it right.
 
#12 ·
This will be either the third or fourth I've had to complete since the change to Child Benefit rules. My only income is PAYE with the same employer for 30 years and my wife doesn't work. How hard is it for them to carry on as before? I'd never had to fill one in at all before that change. It's like they now don't trust us because they changed the rules. Meanwhile working couples jointly on twice my income,more or less, still get it - but that's a different whinge.

Last year they changed my tax code something like eight times in three weeks. I got two conflicting ones on the same day!! It's a pain :(
 
#16 ·
I'm no fan of HMRC but while you may know they have all the figures they do not. They have no idea of you have received share dividends, inheritance or disposed of assets during the year.
 
#17 ·
I spoke to a person on the phone who's going to send a password and who verified who I was,then another who told me that unfortunately I do need to do return. I could have been asked if I had any of the added reasons you list and when I said no then it could be filed that I did not need to file a return.
 
#18 ·
But they cannot phone and ask everyone this so they have some simple threshold rules.
 
#20 ·
If you're PAYE then self assessment is the simplest form in the world - two numbers and you're done. Though I would expect many to have some sort of interest income, which depending on earnings might be taxed more. SA works pretty well, and I am hardly a cheerleader for them after what they did to my wife ... clearly with the exception of PaulR, I wouldn't p155 on them if they were on fire....
 
#22 ·
I fill in a self assessment form every year (two pensions and varying amounts of investment income) but they've improved the systems until it's quite simple.

In any contact I've had with HMRC they've been helpful and reasonably efficient, maybe not as efficient as one of my ex employers but way better than the other. I'd rather deal with HMRC than Barclays, Currys, Santander or Vodafone, who have cost me a fortune in chewed carpet.
 
#24 ·
I think you'll find that in reality Dame Lin Homer has:

“......made a real contribution to public service modernisation and transformation. She has put the foundations in place that will see HMRC become one of the most digitally-advanced tax authorities in the world,”
 
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